By Joel Comiskey, Reap the Harvest (2022 edition)
A bird needs two wings to fly. That simple image captures something essential about how the cell church works — and why so many churches that try to run on one wing end up going in circles.
The cell group and the gathered celebration service are not competing priorities. They are partners. Cell and celebration are the two wings of the cell church, and both are indispensable to the disciple-making process.
The Importance of Preaching
Pastors invest enormous time and energy preparing their messages, and that investment pays greater dividends than many realize. When the whole church family gathers for worship, the sermon becomes a rudder for the entire congregation.
Pastors can shape the vision, correct the course, and speak directly into the lives of their cell leaders and members through the preaching of God’s inerrant Word.
The connection runs even deeper when small groups build their discussion questions around the Sunday message. When that happens, the sermon doesn’t end when the service does — it echoes through the week in living rooms and around kitchen tables across the city. That is the discipleship process working as it should.
The Importance of Worship
Dynamic, Spirit-filled worship does something in people that a small group meeting simply cannot replicate. When the entire church family comes together to sing, pray, and declare the greatness of God, individual cell members catch a glimpse of something larger than themselves — Christ’s greater purpose for His church. Worship in community expands vision. It reminds us we are not a collection of disconnected small groups but one body with one mission.
Vision, Encouragement, and Multiplication
The celebration service is also where pastors and leaders get to speak courage into the troops. Cell ministry is not always easy. Leaders face discouragement. Groups plateau. Progress feels slow. The gathered service is a regular opportunity to remind every leader in the room why the work matters — to reconnect them with God’s heartbeat for the lost and to send them back into their week with renewed purpose.
There is also a practical multiplication benefit that often goes unnoticed. When a cell group divides and gives birth to a new group, the Sunday gathering becomes the place where mother and daughter cells can still enjoy each other’s company. Like an extended family coming together for a reunion, the celebration service maintains the relational bonds that cell multiplication can otherwise strain.
Bill Beckham’s Parable
Bill Beckham, author and cell church veteran, coined the phrase “the two-winged church,” which captures this beautifully in his parable:
A church with two wings was once created; it could fly high into the presence of God. One day the serpent, who had no wings, challenged the church to fly with one wing only — the large gathering wing. With much effort the church managed to fly, and the serpent strongly applauded it. Convinced it could fly perfectly well with one wing, the church settled down, gained weight, and became lazy, content with a purely earthly life. Finally, the Creator formed a new church with two wings. Once again God had a church that could soar into His presence and sing His joyful praises.
A church with two wings is far better equipped to make disciples who make disciples than a church running on one.
This Month on the JCG Blog
For July, our blog series focuses on how the celebration service contributes to making disciples. Twenty posts from experienced pastors and leaders will cover the topic from multiple angles. To receive these directly in your inbox, subscribe here.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
- July 5–11: The Biblical Foundation. The New Testament shows unified leadership under the apostles and regular gatherings of the whole community (Acts 2:42–46; 5:42; 20:20). We’ll explore the scriptural case for why gathered cells matter.
- July 12–18: Preaching, Vision, and Discipleship. Pastors should be encouraged — their hard work in the pulpit really does make disciples. We’ll look at how strong preaching, connected to cell lesson questions, multiplies its impact throughout the week.
- July 19–25: Multiplication and the Celebration Service. Cells multiply more freely when mother and daughter group members can still worship together on Sundays. We’ll also look at the celebration service as a front door for outreach — one of the most effective tools for evangelism a cell church has.
- July 26–August 1: Practical Ways to Celebrate Cell Ministry. Announcements, testimonies, cell tables, maps, and other simple tools that keep cell ministry visible and celebrated in the gathered service.